Transforming in the visiting assistant professor role: collaborative self-study research in physical education teacher education

Transitioning into faculty roles can be a challenging experience. Responsibilities related to teaching, research, and service can be difficult to balance, and mismatch between personal preferences for work focus and instructional expectations can be problematic. This is particularly true of visiting assistant professors who want to work toward tenure-track positions, but whose current job focus is on teaching. Through transformative learning theory and employing the methodologies of self-study, we sought to understand the experiences of Kevin, the second author and a first-year visiting assistant professor. We draw data from Kevin's reflective journal and discussions between Kevin and his critical friend, Jim. Themes included (a) becoming an academic, (b) a hard-wired disposition toward work, and (c) influence of the VAP on emotional and personal health. Results are discussed through the lens of transformative learning theory and focus on Kevin's growth during his year as a visiting assistant professor.     

基于多状态跳转模型的场景独立音频事件检测方法

针对不同类型事件设计多状态跳转模型,结合两种深度神经网络实现对传统音频事件检测框架的改进。实验表明,在DCASE2017任务2的开发集数据上,改进后的DNN-HMM系统相比于基线系统取得F值8.9%的相对提升和错误率19%的绝对下降;基于多状态跳转模型聚类的卷积神经网络模型（SC-CNN）,相比于基线系统取得F值18%的相对提升和错误率30%的绝对下降。     

A rule induction framework for the determination of representative learning design in skilled performance

Representative learning design provides a framework for the extent to which practice simulates key elements of a performance setting. Improving both the measurement and analysis of representative learning design would allow for the refinement of sports training environments that seek to replicate competition conditions and provide additional context to the evaluation of athlete performance. Using rule induction, this study aimed to develop working models for the determination of high frequency, representative events in Australian Rules football kicking. A sample of 9005 kicks from the 2015 Australian Football League season were categorised and analysed according to the following constraints: type of pressure, kick distance, possession source, time in possession, velocity and kick target. The Apriori algorithm was used to develop two models. The first consisted of 10 rules containing the most commonly occurring constraint sets occurring during the kick in AF, with support values ranging from 0.15 to 0.22. None of the rules contained more than three constraints and confidence values ranged from 0.63 to 0.84. The second model considered ineffective and effective kick outcomes and displayed 70% classification accuracy. This research provides a measurement approach to determine the degree of representativeness of sports practice and is directly applicable to various team sports.     

县级政府信息公开现状以及存在问题研究

文章通过对浙江省德清县、长兴县和绍兴市柯桥区三县区政府信息公开年报数据进行实证研究得知,目前我国县级政府信息公开存在着以下问题:第一,政府信息公开主动性不强;第二,公众对申请政府信息公开的积极性不高;第三,政府信息公开的完整性不大。同时,通过分析上述问题形成的原因,提出完善地方政府信息公开体制和引入绩效考核机制等措施,提高我国县级政府信息公开工作水平。     

Embodied learning and school-based physical culture: implications for professionalism and practice in physical education

We write as critical theorists, who consider that in terms of scoping out robust conceptual elaborations which are suitable for contemporary schooling, that physical education has ground to make up connecting theory with practice and practice with theory. We advocate that aspects of existentialism and phenomenology can provide a theoretically sound basis on which to argue that embodied learning should be the foundational cornerstone of physical education programmes. To avoid embodied learning becoming overly learner centric and insular, we advance Merleau-Pontian informed ideas on how learning could flourish when an individual and embodied focus merges with a school-wide physical culture agenda which is underpinned by social and moral theorizing. In developing our focus on merging embodied learning and physical culture, we draw upon MacIntyrean views on the goods which are internal to practice and extend thinking on how these goods could merge with the diverse aims and intentions informing the culture and ethos in schools. In pursuing these ambitions, we outline the constructive activist-based benefits of teachers working within subsidiarity-based school communities where pedagogical decisions are made at a level consistent with realizing whole schools aims. This is in spite of our acknowledgement that the lack of career-long professional learning adds to the difficulty of achieving these aims. In conclusion we argue that if physical education is to become a pivotal component of realizing a diverse range of whole school aims there is a need for greater professional engagement with pedagogical approaches that attempt to derive greater meaning from learners movement experiences and which help learners to understand better both their own identity and the ethos of the school context and environment they share with others.     

An analysis of the value of multiple mentors in formalised elite coach mentoring programmes

Background: Within the context of sports coaching and coach education, formalised mentoring relationships are often depicted as a mentor–mentee dyad. Thus, mentoring within sports coaching is typically conceptualised as a one-dimensional relationship, where the mentor is seen as the powerful member of the dyad, with greater age and/or experience [Colley, H. (2003). Mentoring for Social Inclusion. London: Routledge].

Aim: The aim of this study was to explore the concept of a multiple mentor system in an attempt to advance our theoretical and empirical understanding of sports coach mentoring. In doing so, this paper builds upon the suggestion of Jones, Harris, and Miles [(2009). “Mentoring in Sports Coaching: A Review of the Literature.” Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy 14 (3): 267–284] who highlight the importance of generating empirical research to explore current mentoring approaches in sport, which in turn can inform meaningful formal coach education enhancement. The significance of this work therefore lies in opening up both a practical and a theoretical space for dialogue within sports coach education in order to challenge the traditional dyadic conceptualisation of mentoring and move towards an understanding of ‘mentoring in practice’.

Method: Drawing upon Kram’s [(1985). Mentoring at Work: Developmental Relationships in Organisational Life. Glenview, IL: Scott Foresman] foundational mentoring theory to underpin a multiple mentoring support system, 15 elite coach mentors across a range of sports were interviewed in an attempt to explore their mentoring experiences. Subsequently, an inductive thematic analysis endeavoured to further investigate the realities and practicalities of employing a multiple mentoring system in the context of elite coach development.

Results: The participants advocated support for the utilisation of a multiple mentor system to address some of the inherent problems and complexities within elite sports coaching mentoring. Specifically, the results suggested that mentees sourced different mentors for specific knowledge acquisition, skills and attributes. For example, within a multiple mentor approach, mentors recommended that mentees use a variety of mentors, including cross-sports and non-sport mentors.

Conclusion: Tentative recommendations for the future employment of a multiple mentoring framework were considered, with particular reference to cross-sports or non-sport mentoring experiences.     

Doping in sport: an analysis of sanctioned UK rugby union players between 2009 and 2015

To inform anti-doping policy and practice, it is important to understand the complexities of doping. The purpose of this study was to collate and systematically examine the reasoned decisions published by UK Anti-Doping for doping sanctions in rugby union in the UK since the introduction of the 2009 World Anti-Doping Code. Case files were content analysed to extract demographic information and details relating to the anti-doping rule violation (ADRV), including individuals’ explanations for how/why the ADRV occurred. Between 2009 and 2015, 49 rugby union players and one coach from across the UK were sanctioned. Over 50% of the cases involved players under the age of 25, competing at sub-elite levels. Reasons in defence of the ADRV focused on functional use and lifestyle factors rather than performance enhancement. An a priori assessment of the “need”, “risk” and “consequence” of using a substance was not commonplace; further strengthening calls for increasing the reach of anti-doping education. The findings also deconstruct the view that “doped” athletes are the same. Consequently, deepening understanding of the social and cultural conditions that encourage doping remains a priority.     

Superior short-term learning effect of visual and sensory organisation ability when sensory information is unreliable in adolescent rhythmic gymnasts

Rhythmic gymnasts specialise in dynamic balance under sensory conditions of numerous somatosensory, visual, and vestibular stimulations. This study investigated whether adolescent rhythmic gymnasts are superior to peers in Sensory Organisation test (SOT) performance, which quantifies the ability to maintain standing balance in six sensory conditions, and explored whether they plateaued faster during familiarisation with the SOT. Three and six sessions of SOTs were administered to 15 female rhythmic gymnasts (15.0 ± 1.8 years) and matched peers (15.1 ± 2.1 years), respectively. The gymnasts were superior to their peers in terms of fitness measures, and their performance was better in the SOT equilibrium score when visual information was unreliable. The SOT learning effects were shown in more challenging sensory conditions between Sessions 1 and 2 and were equivalent in both groups; however, over time, the gymnasts gained marginally significant better visual ability and relied less on visual sense when unreliable. In conclusion, adolescent rhythmic gymnasts have generally the same sensory organisation ability and learning rates as their peers. However, when visual information is unreliable, they have superior sensory organisation ability and learn faster to rely less on visual sense.     

Improved children’s motor learning of the basketball free shooting pattern by associating subjective error estimation and extrinsic feedback

This study aimed at assessing the interaction between subjective error estimation and frequency of extrinsic feedback in the learning of the basketball free shooting pattern by children. 10- to 12-year olds were assigned to 1 of 4 groups combining subjective error estimation and relative frequency of extrinsic feedback (33% × 100%). Analysis of performance was based on quality of movement pattern. Analysis showed superior learning of the group combining error estimation and 100% feedback frequency, both groups receiving feedback on 33% of trials achieved intermediate results, and the group combining no requirement of error estimation and 100% feedback frequency had the poorest learning. Our results show the benefit of subjective error estimation in association with high frequency of extrinsic feedback in children’s motor learning of a sport motor pattern.